Report  of  the  Traveling  Secretary  for 
the  American  Inter-Seminary  Alli- 
ance, for  the  year  1894-95 


By  REV.  JAMES  EDWARD  ADAMS 


Report  of  the  Traveling  Secretary  for  the  American 
Inter-Seminary  Missionary  Alliance,  for 
the  year  1894-95. 


Origin  of  the  But  few  words  are  necessary  concerning  the  pur- 
Work.  pose  of  the  work  attempted  by  the  Alliance  among 
the  seminaries  during  the  past  winter.  At  its  Convention  at 
Springfield,  Ohio,  in  November,  1894,  the  conviction  found 
expression  that  the  work  of  the  Church  in  the  world  as  a mission- 
ary organization  could  never  be  accomplished  except  through  the 
agency  of  a missionary  ministry  in  the  home  Church;  that  also 
the  ministry  as  a body  could  never  be  surely  and  effectually 
reached  except  through  having  the  missionary  stamp  put  upon  it 
while  in  its  training  period.  The  theological  seminary  was  recog- 
nized as  the  strategic  point  for  accomplishing  this  end,  and  it  was 
believed  that  the  most  certain  method  was  through  systematic 
courses  of  instruction  in  the  seminaries  which  could  be  calculated 
to  deepen  conviction  and  to  thoroughly  equip  the  minister  for  dis- 
charging this  supreme  obligation. 

A Secretary  To  this  end  it  was  determined  to  investigate  the 
Chosen.  condition  of  instruction  on  missions  in  our  semi- 
naries and  the  results  of  the  methods  now  in  vogue;  also  to 
arrange  for  a traveling  secretary  to  work  personally  among  the 
seminaries,  stimulating  the  students  to  a more  thorough  study  of 
missions  themselves,  and  agitating  the  question  of  more  thorough 
and  systematic  instruction  on  the  subject. 

Status  of  Missionary  In  pursuit  of  the  investigation  a series  ot 
Instruction.  questions  was  sent  out  to  members  of  the 

faculties  of  our  seminaries.  And  in  as  many  cases  as  possible  the 
same  questions  were  sent  also  to  a leading  student  in  each  institu- 

(2) 


tion  in  order  that  both  views  of  the  existing  agencies  and  condi- 
tions might  be  obtained.  About  sixty  seminaries  responded,  with 
the  following  results: 

1 . In  only  one  was  there  an  entire  chair  given  to  the  sub- 
ject of  Missions. 

2.  Six  had  the  subject  as  an  officially  recognized  integral 
part  of  a chair. 

3.  Thirty-four  reported  the  subject  as  unofficially  included 
in  the  teaching  of  some  other  chair,  as  of  Church  History,  Pastoral 
Theology,  etc. 

4.  Out  of  thirty-four  catalogues  examined,  eighteen  made 
no  mention  of  the  subject  in  their  printed  courses  of  study;  one 
reported  a course  of  several  terms  in  the  specific  History  of  Mis- 
sions, and  several  had  specially  endowed  lecture  courses  for  the 
occasional  treatment  of  missionary  themes. 

In  the  seminary  spoken  of  in  class  1 the  present  incumbent 
is  teaching  Systematic  Theology  and  gives  no  time  to  the  subject 
of  his  chair. 

Under  class  2,  of  the  six,  three  either  never  have  had  or 
have  not  now  the  missionary  part  of  the  chair  in  active  operation. 
In  the  remaining  three  the  average  amount  of  time  given  to  the 
subject  is  thirty-six  hours  for  the  three  years’  course. 

Under  class  3,  twelve  state  that  they  refer  to  what  is  given 
to  the  subject  of  the  history  of  missions  in  the  general  instruction 
in  Church  History;  nineteen  reported  as  having  it  in  Practical 
Theology,  and  the  average  amount  of  time  given  to  the  subject 
was  eight  lecture  periods  for  the  entire  course. 

Results  Also  Show  The  efficiency  of  the  amount  and  methods 
Little  Instruction.  of  the  missionary  instruction  now  given  in 
our  theological  seminaries,  so  far  as  it  tends  to  convince  and  edu- 
cate the  ministry,  may  be  clearly  shown  by  the  parallel  effect  of 
this  same  instruction  in  turning  men  to  the  missions  fields.  The 
two  lines  of  effect  go  together.  Fifty-six  seminaries  in  the  last 
three  years  have  graduated  2,371  students.  Of  these  126,  or 
slightly  over  five  per  cent.,  have  gone  to  the  foreign  field.  Per- 
is) 


sonal  investigation  was  made  in  thirty-six  of  these  seminaries 
where  1,529  had  graduated  in  the  last  three  years  and  eighty-six 
had  gone  to  the  foreign  field,  and  it  was  found  that  certainly 
fifty-six,  probably  more,  had  the  purpose  of  becoming  mission- 
aries before  entering  the  seminary.  This  is  to  say  that  less  than 
thirty,  or  less  than  two  per  cent. , were  influenced  in  their  decision 
by  the  instruction  of  the  seminary.  We  cannot  look  over  the 
list  of  the  seminaries,  which  we  personally  know,  without  realizing 
that  so  far  as  systematic  instruction  in  missions  is  concerned, 
as  a discipline  for  training  the  ministry,  there  is  a most  lament- 
able lack. 

The  Secretary’s  Work  The  local  work  done  in  the  institutions 
of  Visitation.  has  been  as  follows:  Twenty-two  insti- 

tutions have  been  visited.  Twenty-three  public  meetings  have 
been  held  in  which  both  students  and  members  of  the  faculty  were 
present;  seventeen  where  only  students  were  present.  Sixteen 
conferences  with  small  bodies  of  leading  students  have  been  held 
in  which  the  local  conditions  have  been  discussed;  and  in  ten  of 
these  the  men  have  agreed  to  take  upon  themselves  the  personal 
responsibility  of  working  for  more  thorough  missionary  instruc- 
tion. Forty-three  personal  interviews  with  members  of  seminary 
faculties,  directors,  trustees,  prominent  pastors,  etc.,  have  been 
held,  and  the  condition  and  need  placed  before  them  and  dis- 
cussed. Five  seminaries  either  have  enlarged,  or  have  expressed 
themselves  through  their  authorities  as  intending  to  enlarge  their 
courses  of  instruction  on  missions.  And  in  a much  larger  num- 
ber of  institutions  such  conviction  and  interest  has  been  aroused 
as  to  make  it  but  a question  of  time  and  pressure  until  the  same 
end  is  worked  out. 

The  Secretary’s  Work  Aside  from  the  local  work  done  in  stir- 
at  Office.  ring  the  interest  of  the  students  in  mis- 

sionary study  and  deepening  their  sense  of  ministerial  obligation  at 
this  point  and  also  in  converging  the  local  lines  of  influence  for  more 
systematic  instruction,  an  effort  has  been  made  along  another  line. 
In  January’a  printed  statement  in  pamphlet  form  covering  the 

(4) 


results  of  the  investigation  up  to  that  time,  was  issued  for  private 
circulation.  Copies  were  sent  to  the  members  of  faculties  and  of 
the  boards  of  trustees  and  directors  in  some  forty  leading  semi- 
naries. In  addition  a copy  accompanied  by  a personal  letter  was 
sent  to  each  of  six  of  the  leading  pastors  in  each  denomination.  The 
result  of  this  extended  correspondence  has  been  that  a number  of 
very  strong  articles  on  this  subject  have  been  written  for  the  denomi- 
national press  by  leading  men.  Resolutions  have  been  adopted  in 
a number  of  ecclesiastical  meetings  memorializing  the  seminaries 
for  the  establishment  of  courses  of  study  in  missions. 

rieans  Now  Adopted  to  With  regard  to  the  various  means 
Deepen  Missionary  employed  in  our  seminaries  to  accom- 
Conviction  in  plish  the  end  of  deepening  the  student’s 

Seminaries.  conviction  concerning  his  ministerial 

missionary  obligation  and  equipping  him  to  discharge  it,  the  fol- 
lowing conclusions  are  given,  based  upon  the  winter’s  observation 
among  the  seminaries.  Where  outside  influences  brought  in 

Occasional  Addresses.  and  converged  uP°n  *he  students  (such 
as  addresses  of  board  secretaries,  returned 
missionaries,  etc.)  are  relied  upon  as  the  primary  agency  for  the 
accomplishment  of  this  end  there  is  an  unquestionably  vicious  ele- 
ment in  the  result  as  well  as  more  or  less  of  a necessary  failure 
in  accomplishing  the  desired  end.  The  method  is  essentially 
unsystematic.  No  claim  can  be  laid  for  it  as  furnishing  a sys- 
tematic discipline  through  which  to  equip  the  student.  It  may 
serve  to  entertain  and  even  inspire  with  a missionary  spirit.  But 
the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  a man  may  have  great  zeal  to 
accomplish  the  ends  of  the  ministry  and  get  little  wisdom  or 
knowledge  for  doing  it,  is  the  reason  we  establish  theological 
seminaries.  Besides  the  spirit,  he  must  have  the  equipping  disci- 
pline. Its  other  fault  is  that  from  the  fact  that  the  influences 
converged  are  from  the  outside.  The  naturally  unmissionary 
student  is  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  missions  is  no  essential  part 
of  his  ministerial  training.  Of  course  missions  is  a good  thing, one 
of  the  beneficences  of  the  Church  to  which  he  intends  to  have  his 

(5) 


congregation  contribute,  but  it  is  not  part  of  his  required  course 
and  is  not,  therefore, an  essential  part  of  his  equipment  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry.  This  has  contributed  as  much  as  anything  else 
to  the  drawing  of  the  unwarranted  line  of  demarkation  which 
exists  in  many  seminaries  between  the  men  who  are  going  to  the 
mission  field  and  those  who  are  going  into  the  home  ministry. 

Part  of  Church  Where  the  instruction  on  missions  is  his- 
History  Department,  torical  and  simply  mixed  in  with  the  gen- 
eral instruction  in  Church  History, it  is  also  of  very  little  value.  For 
practical  equipment  for  developing  the  Church’s  missionary  life, 
almost  the  only  historical  material  which  is  of  especial  worth  is  in 
modern  missions.  This  comes  at  the  end  of  the  course  and  very 
often  is  but  lightly  touched  because  of  a lack  of  time.  Unless  time 
is  allotted  to  this  specific  study,  as  to  history  of  doctrine,  it  is 
swallowed  up  and  lost  in  the  general  historical  instruction. 

Missionary  Lectureships.  In  several  seminaries  there  are  Agu- 
iar endowed  lectureships  -on  which 

foundation,  courses  of  from  six  to  twelve  lectures  are  given  each 
year  on  special  themes  in  missions  by  qualified  men.  Frequently 
a book  is  subsequently  issued  based  upon  the  lectures  given.  In 
the  institutions  investigated  where  this  method  was  adopted,  it  was 
agreed  by  both  students  and  members  of  the  faculty,  that  as  an 
agency  for  educational  equipment,  it  was  a failure.  In  lectures 
not  purely  educational,  the  personality  of  the  lecturer  counts  for 
as  much  as  the  substance  of  the  lectures.  In  this  case  the  lecturer 
changes  from  year  to  year.  There  is  no  cumulative  effect  or  sys- 
tem about  it.  The  men  best  qualified  to  speak  on  missions  are 
by  no  means  always  men  calculated  as  lecturers  to  hold  the 
student.  The  resulting  books  may  be  excellent  while  the  lectures 
are  of  little  effect.  In  two  institutions,  the  missionary  lectureships 
of  which  are  known  all  over  the  country  because  of  the  books 
which  have  resulted  from  them,  professors  expressed  themselves 
as  convinced  that  the  chief  profit  of  the  foundation  was  the  mak- 
ing possible  of  these  valuable  missionary  books.  Even  the  students 
they  thought  secured  more  from  these  than  they  did  from  the 

(6) 


lectures.  While  this  agency  is  most  excellent  as  a subsidiary  one, 
it  cannot  most  effectually  accomplish  the  end  desired.  This  we  are 
convinced  can  only  be  done  by  the  subject  being  given  a specific 
place  in  the  regular  curriculum  instruction  of  the  institution. 

What  Shall  be  Done  While  the  Alliance  has  abundant  reason  for 
Next  Year?  praising  God  for  the  fruits  vouchsafed  to  its 
efforts  during  the  past  year,  there  still  remains  much  to  be  done. 
When  the  work  was  entered  upon,  a winter  of  little  more  than 
mere  agitation  was  anticipated.  Our  Lord  has  granted  much 
more  than  this  in  results  already  materialized.  The  larger  fruits 
of  the  work  however  are  still  to  come.  Theological  seminaries, 
like  other  great  bodies,  move  slowly,  and  this  is  perfectly  proper. 
In  the  greater  number  of  the  institutions  visited  it  was  impossible 
in  the  short  time  at  command  to  hope  to  accomplish  definite 
results.  In  many  God  gave  a profound  stirring  of  local  interest. 
Convictions  were  deepened,  interest  aroused  and  agencies  of  agi- 
tation established.  If,  however,  the  work  of  the  winter  is  to 
reach  its  largest  fruition,  these  must  continue  for  some  time  to  be 
stimulated,  intensified  and  directed;  else  their  effective  power  in 
gaining  the  desired  end  will  be  largely  dispersed  and  lost.  It 
was  impossible  also  to  include  in  the  tour  many  institutions  of 
equal  importance  with  those  visited.  The  beginnings  of  the 
work  remain  yet  to  be  inaugurated  in  these.  There  is  certainly 
sufficient  work  to  be  done  to  command  the  time  of  a secretary  for 
another  season;  and  it  demands  to  be  done  if  we  are  to  gather  in 
the  harvest  of  what  God  has  been  pleased  to  make  spring  up 
from  the  first  sowing.  I strongly  recommend  that  if  possible  a 
suitable  secretary  be  secured  for  an  additional  season’s  work. 
Under  What  Immediate  A word  may  not  be  amiss  concerning 
Supervision?  the  policy  of  the  work  as  developed 

during  the  winter  and  the  lines  which  it  would  be  advisable 
to  pursue  in  the  future.  For  the  pursuit  of  definite,  aggressive 
work  requiring  fixed  lines  of  policy  and  experience  in  cultivating 
financial  resources,  there  is  a fatal  defect  in  the  organization 
of  the  Alliance  in  its  annually  shifting  executive.  The  cumulative 

(7) 


value  of  experience  and  influence  is  lost.  There  is  only  one  office 
which  has  within  it  the  possibility  of  being  in  any  sense  perma- 
nent. It  is  that  of  the  representative  of  the  Alliance  upon  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement.  The 
effectiveness  of  this  work  in  the  local  institution  depends  a great 
deal  in  getting  hold  of  the  right  man  among  the  students.  The 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  in  pursuit  of  its  work  has  come 
into  touch  with  the  missionary  interests  of  most  of  the  seminaries, 
not  only  those  in  the  Alliance,  but  also  those  which  are  not.  The 
privilege  of  using  its  agencies  has  contributed  very  largely  to  the 
efficiency  of  our  work  this  year.  Moreover,  the  two  organizations 
are  bound  together  by  such  strong  ties  of  common  interest,  that 
not  only  is  it  desirable  that  the  experience  and  machinery  of  the 
one  should  accrue  to  the  advantage  of  the  other,  but  it  is  impera- 
tive that  their  labors  should  be  based  upon  perfectly  harmonious 
policies,  if  the  largest  fruits  are  to  be  gathered  for  the  Master. 
We  would  strongly  recommend,  therefore,  after  the  experience  of 
the  past  winter,  that  the  work  be  continued  in  the  hands  of  the 
official  representative  of  the  Alliance  on  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 

I may  say  in  conclusion  that  the  year  has 
A Year  of  Blessing.  , c . .r  . , , . 

been  one  of  most  manifest  blessing  upon 

our  work.  The  Alliance  may  well  thank  God  and  take  courage 
as  it  sees  with  how  little  effort,  on  the  part  of  its  agents,  the  Lord 
has  opened  this  great  door  before  it.  We  must  not  fail  to  enter 
in.  He  has  yet  greater  things  for  us.  In  mar^y  ways  has  His 
hand  been  most  manifest  in  the  winter’s  work.  This  is  but  the 
seal  of  what  He  purposes  to  give  us  in  the  year  which  is  before 
us.  May  the  spirit  of  understanding,  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  the 
spirit  of  council,  and  the  spirit  of  might  be  poured  out  in  great 
measure  that  the  object  of  this  work  may  be  accomplished  and 
the  Church  of  our  Lord  be  given  a missionary  ministry. 

James  Edward  Adams. 

So  Institute  Place , Chicago , III. , 

May  /,  1S95. 

Note. — Mr.  Adams  is  now  en  route  for  Korea,  the  field  of  his  life-work.  He  sails 
from  San  Francisco  on  May  4.  The  foregoing  words  constitute  his  last  message  to  the 
theological  students  of  America. — D.  IV.  L. 


